British man given bionic butt

Emma Woollacott, 15th November 2009

IT manager Ged Galvin has been given a pioneering 'bionic bottom', following a motorcycle accident which left him with massive internal injuries.

He now uses a remote control to open his bowels.

Surgeons at the Royal London Hospital took a muscle from above his knee, wrapped it round his sphincter and attached electrodes to the nerves. A remote control activates the electrodes.

"It’s like a chubby little mobile phone," he told theDaily Telegraph. "You switch it on and off, just like switching on the TV.

"They call me the man with the bionic bottom, but that doesn’t bother me. My gratitude to the surgeons is endless because what they have done is a miracle."

Galvin had been told that he would have to wear a colostomy bag for life after two operations to control his bowel movements failed. But he refused to accept the prognosis and sought out professor Norman Williams, who suggested the operation.